I have to admit I don’t listen to the radio much anymore. Call it a poor attention span. Maybe it’s my irritation listening to play lists that don’t change year after year.

OK. I get it. Great music was written in the 80s by somewhat obscure, alternative bands. Been there. Done that. I want to hear something new. Some fresh lyrics. A fresh beat.

Listening to this song in the car recently I wondered aloud “what is this song about?” I didn’t watch too much of the World Cup – I prefer rugby – so I didn’t hone in on this song earlier on. Better late than never I guess.

“When I get older, I will be stronger. They’ll call me freedom just like a waving flag.” Ah. I like these lyrics.

So if you were sick of hearing this song after the World Cup was over, that’s a shame. Listening to it with a fresh ear I thought “there has to be a good message in this one”. Surely this must be a song for the youth of the developing world and disenfranchised neighbourhoods, from the youngest child upwards. To me this song speaks not only about the hope for tomorrow. It speaks about the possibilities that the current generation hold inside right now. It’s not surprising that this song was recorded to support relief efforts after the recent earthquake in Haiti.

We need more songs like this.

Lyrics:

Wavin’ Flag

By: K’NAAN (Somali-Canadian rapper, poet and musician)

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag

When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
But Violent prone, poor people zone
But it’s my home, all I have known
Where I got grown, streets we would roam
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak
Except no defeat, surrender retreat

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we’ll be free
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day
It’s not far away, so for now we say

Refrain: When I get older, I will be stronger
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back

So many wars, settling scores
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor
I heard them say, love is the way
Love is the answer, that’s what they say,
But look how they treat us, make us believers
We fight their battles, then they deceive us
Try to control us, they couldn’t hold us
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers

But we struggling, fighting to eat
And we wondering, when we’ll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day
It’s not far away, but for now we say

Refrain:

Refrain:

(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)

Refrain:

Refrain:

When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag.

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